Boys and Girls in America

"Damn you Hold Steady! How can any band be this good?”
- Rolling Stone

"Classic rock-indebted music sandwiched between 'Born To Run' and 'Back In Black'.”
- 9.4/10 Pitchforkmedia

"If The Hold Steady are the world's best bar band alcoholism may soon be at an all time high.
- 4 ½ stars TwistedEar.com

"Along with The Shins' latest album it is already a contender for album of the year.”
- 5 stars Scott Kara, Herald

New York's bar band extraordinaire The Hold Steady is back… with a brand new album, their most rocking to date!

The Hold Steady are a Brooklyn-based group, led by fire-breathing frontman Craig Finn, formerly of Lifter Puller. The Hold Steady's first album 'Almost Killed Me' ('04) was a sleeper hit among music critics, appearing at #31 in New York's Village Voice. Some months later in '05, the band was the first rock group to grace the Voice's front page in 15 years!

The group's 2nd album, 'Separation Sunday', was released later that month and saw the band branch out somewhat: a concept album following the story of a girl named Holly and her quest to find a balance between Catholicism and rock n' roll. After this album, the band moved from the Frenchkiss Records imprint to Vagrant, where they release their brand new album 'Boys and Girls In America'. This album, only now released in Aus and NZ, was ranked 8th on Rolling Stone Magazine's 'Best Albums of 2006' list and ranked #1 by The Onion's AV Club.

The Hold Steady's 'Boys and Girls In America' brings another serve of the seedier side of juvenile delinquency, delivered in Brooklyn-via-Minneapolis jive, but the themes are more universal this time around, although Holly the Hoodrat and her friends do make a brief appearance!

Produced by Jon Agnello (Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jnr, The Breeders, Mark Lanegan, Son Volt), the guitars are huge, the piano grand, bass pounding, drums cracking, brass belting…

This New Zealand / Australian edition includes a chunky helping of bonus track action, with 4 previously unreleased songs, including 3 cracking new tunes recorded at the album sessions and a cover of the Violent Femmes classic "American Music".

The Herald's Scott Kara is a BIG fan, awarding the album 5 stars in TimeOut, raving that… "Even though at first The Hold Steady's classic rock n' roll may seem, like, totally uncool, listen up. When they brazenly launch into "Some Kooks" they are the hottest band on the planet… music for every man and woman.”